ISLAMABAD: As a bill seeking creation of south Punjab province landed in the Senate on Monday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi declared that the ruling party stood by its electoral promise and sought support of all other parties to help make it a reality.

The private member bill was introduced in the House by Rana Mehmoodul Hasan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and was supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), but was opposed by another PML-N lawmaker.

“It is a wail of our deprivations,” Mr Hassan said while presenting the case for south Punjab province before the upper house of parliament. People residing in the southern parts of Punjab had been facing multiple hardships, he said, adding that they had to travel long distances only to fetch drinking water. He also reminded the PTI of its promise to make south Punjab a separate province within 100 days in power.

However, the PML-N lawmaker also referred to a recent protest by the Hazaras and called for carving out smaller provinces on administrative lines.

Leader of the Opposition in Senate and former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani said the issue was so important that the PPP during its rule had already managed to get a bill for the creation of Bahawalpur province passed from the Senate.

However, he reminded other parties that PPP was demanding a separate province and not just a secretariat for the people of south Punjab. “We are demanding a province, not a secretariat. It is not a colonial system where limited democracy will work,” the PPP senator asserted.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan said PM Imran Khan was in principle in favour of the new province but there were ‘certain problems’ that needed to be discussed and resolved.

He then requested the chair to refer the bill to the committee concerned for further deliberations and to achieve political consensus.

PML-N senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed was of the opinion that building or creating new provinces would open a Pandora’s box, which the federation could not afford at the moment.

“It will not stop here,” he reasoned.

Instead of a new province, the PML-N senator said, provinces should be strengthened along with local governments under the 18th Amendment.

Minister Qureshi said the bill to make South Punjab a separate province was in line with PTI’s aspirations and election manifesto. He said the passage of the bill would not only fulfill the desire of the people of South Punjab, but would also strengthen the federation but the amendment to the Constitution required a two third majority.

He said a ring-fencing concept had been introduced for South Punjab so that development allocations were made as per population. He said there would be no room for re-appropriation.

Responding to the remarks by ex-PM Gilani, the minister said nothing was too late in politics and asked the PPP to commit that it would support the efforts for a separate province. “If major political parties move ahead, we can find a way,” he said, expressing the hope that consensus would be achieved.